The City: Fight for Staten Island

By RAYMOND HERNANDEZ

Published: October 25, 2009

In 2008, the Republican Party lost its sole New York City Congressional seat to Michael E. McMahon, a City Council member at the time. He became the first Democrat since 1981 to win the 13th District, which covers Staten Island and a portion of Brooklyn, the most conservative areas in the city.

The Republican Party's difficulties in this stronghold began when longtime Representative Vito J. Fossella pulled out of the race after his arrest in May 2008 on charges of drunken driving and after his admission that he had fathered a child during an extramarital affair.

Staten Island's formidable Republican machine selected Frank Powers, a wealthy retired Wall Street executive, to be the party's nominee. But Mr. Powers, who sat on the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, died suddenly of a heart attack. Then the party endorsed Robert A. Straniere, a former assemblyman who was dogged throughout the campaign about his having moved from Staten Island to Manhattan after leaving office. Mr. McMahon won with nearly 61 percent of the vote.

As a member of Congress, Mr. McMahon is widely seen as a centrist who gets along with members of both parties.

Michael Allegretti, who lives in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, announced in July that he would challenge Mr. McMahon. Mr. Alegretti, who works on international energy policy with the nonprofit Climate Group, cites his relationships with Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, and sounds familiar Republican themes on health care, tax reform and terrorism.